Ljubljana is having a cool moment; it is awash with strutting university students bedecked in designer clothes; the countless bars and restaurants along the River Ljubljanica are overflowing all year around and the pocket-sized city has a Baroque Old Town, medieval castle, bucolic markets, and innovative museums to discover. The cultural soup caused by Slovenia’s proximity to Hungary, Austria and Italy can be seen in the heady mix of architecture – from Roman via Austro-Hungarian to Art Nouveau –and in the restaurant scene, where gastronomic influences range from Italian gelatithrough heart-warming Hungarian goulashes to Austrian pastries. Here’s how to see Slovenia’s pocket-sized capital Ljubljana in 48 hours.
Ljubljana
Friday Afternoon: Culture Spot
Book into your hotel and head straight out to Trnovo to visit the Ple?nikova Zbirka (Ple?nik Collection) in the house of Slovenia’s most famous architect. Jože Ple?nik lived between 1872-1957 and shaped so much of modern Ljubljana, from creating the fantastical Art Nouveau Triple Bridge over the river from Prešeren Square to redesigning and connecting piazzas, streets and parks. He helped bring the Ljubljanica River frontage back to life, created an undercover food market and designed a masterpiece – the National and University Library. In fact Ple?nik did as much to put Ljubljana on the architectural map as Gaudi did for Barcelona.
Dine around Presernov trg (Preseren Square)
Ljubljana’s main artery of Preseren Square is a Baroque masterpiece dominated by Art Nouveau mansions, the landmark Triple Bridge, a flamboyant statue of the great Slovenian bard France Preseren, and the Fran?iškansa Cerkev Marijinega Oznanjenja (Franciscan Church of the Annunciation). It’s always crowded out with smartly dressed locals but finding somewhere to eat won’t be a problem – the riverbanks adjacent to the square are festooned with bars, restaurants and cafés.
If you’re not ready for bed afterwards, burn off some energy in the graffiti-ridden alternative clubbing haven of Metelkova. Whether it’s live rock music, dancing to 1980s pop or alternative art exhibitions you’re after, you’ll unearth them amid the stark architecture of Metelkova’s former army barracks. In the 1990s they were due for demolition but squatters moved in to save them and they are now run as an autonomous social center, similar to Christiania in Copenhagen.
Saturday: Walking Tour
Ljubljana Castle
Get the measure of Ljubljana’s eminently walkable heart with a tour of the bridges over the Ljubljanica and its embankments fringed by cafés and bars. Revisit Prešernov Square in daylight, admire flamboyant Baroque churches, monuments and façades and wind up in the cheerily painted Baroque Old Town. From here take the funicular up Castle Hill to the rotund medieval Ljubljanski grad (Ljubljana Castle) for glorious panoramas over the city and the red roofs of the Old Town – on a clear day it’s said that you can see Mount Triglav, Slovenia’s highest mountain. Once a medieval fortress, then a Habsburg royal residence and subsequently the quarters of Napoleon’s army, the castle’s latest incarnation is as a visitor attraction with viewing towers, several history exhibitions and an award-wining restaurant, Gostilna Na Gradu, which makes the perfect lunchtime pit stop.
Markets and Museums
Ljubljana Market. Photo credit: Mark Dolinger via Flickr.
On the way downhill from the castle, sidetrack into Ljubljana’s sprawling and chaotic Central Market, which stretches over several streets by the riverside; everything is on sale here in the city’s food basket from artisan breads to seasonal vegetables.
Continue northwards over the river to the new Museum Quarter between Tabor and Metelkova, which has seen the transformation of former army barracks into a thriving cultural space. Here the standout attraction is the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova (MSUM), which opened in 2011 and displays works from Eastern Europe’s post-war avant-garde movement as well as pop art – anyone old enough to remember the mid 1970s will love the film footage of the nascent Slovene punk rock scene.
Try Local Dishes
Get a taste for Slovene specialties at Ljubljana hot spot Gostilna Sokol on Ciril Metodov Trg; yes, it’s touristy but there’s no better traditional restaurant in town. Order up a feast of goulash served in a bread roll, smoked sausage, game pie, schnitzel ad sauerkraut washed down with local Lasko beer or prune liqueur.
Later enjoy an operatic performance from the luxury of your gilded box at the ornate, Neo-Renaissance Slovene National Theater, Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, which celebrated its centenary in 2012. This monument to kitsch recently underwent a facelift and is newly adorned – inside and out – with cherubs, frescoes, marble reliefs and hundreds of statues. The repertoire leans towards accessible favorites such as Dido and Aeneas by Purcell or Prokofiev’s much-loved ballet Romeo and Juliet.
Sunday: On Your Bike
Grab a classic Balkan breakfast on the go of burek – filo pasty stuffed with spicy meat or cheese – and head off to find the antique bargain of the year at the colorful Sunday flea market along the riverside on Cankarjevo Nabrezje; be prepared to rummage and indulge in some serious haggling to secure your prize find.
If you’re feeling active, hire a silver Bicikelj public bike (en.bicikelj.si) at one of the 30 stations dotted around town and cycle a section of the Path of Remembrance and Comradeship. This circular, 20-mile (32-km) cycle path is way-marked with green signposts has a poignant history: during WWII the occupying Italian Fascists sealed Ljubljana off from the outside world with a series of impenetrable barbed-wire fences. When these were destroyed at the end of the war, more than 7,000 trees were planted in their stead, forming a commemoratory route right around the city, and memorial stones along the tree-lined gravel track mark the former position of Italian bunkers.
Back on foot, make for the manicured gardens of Tivoli Park, Ljubljana’s favorite public space, for lunch in lush green surrounding at the gorgeous Baroque Art Caffè Tivoli. If you have the time and energy left for one more museum before your flight home, make it the Narodna Galerija (National Gallery of Slovenia) on Prešernova cesta for its superb collection of Slovene and European art from the 13th to the early 20th century – the museum is just a ten-minute walk from Tivoli Park and admission is free the first Sunday of every month.
Postojna Caves
Can you sneak an extra day on your Ljubljana trip? Lovely lakeside Bled and its ninth-century castleare just begging to be explored. Day trips to Bled from Ljubljana include a guided tour of the castle and a pletna (wooden boat) trip out to Bled Island as well as a coach drive around the lake to marvel at its breath-taking beauty. Equally popular is an exploration of the vast underground system of limestone caves at Postojna, 40 minutes outside Ljubljana; at 13 miles (21 km) long, this is the largest known cave system in Europe. Thought to be more than two million years old, the caves offer up extraordinary rock formations and mammoth caverns – one is famous for the clarity of its acoustics and is so vast that concerts can be held there for an audience of up to 10,000.
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